Winter Capital Partners (WCP), an ongoing investor, has raised $9 million (about Rs. 73.34 crores) for the tech platform CollegeDekho, which is operated by Girnarsoft Educational Support Private limited. Ltd.
According to Ruchir Arora, founder, and CEO of CollegeDekho, “the tech startup’s revenue hit approximately Rs 100 crores in FY22 and is hoping to treble it along with being operationally profitable by the following fiscal.”
CollegeDekho secured $35 mn in Series B financing in November 2021, with Winter Capital, ETS Tactical Capital, College, and Man Capital serving as the transaction’s co-lead investors. Before this investment round, CollegeDekho had already received approximately $45 million in total capital.
In 2015, Ruchir Arora, Saurabh Jain, and Rohit Saha established CollegeDekho. According to the company’s statement, its multiple college application features have helped almost 50,000 students enroll in more than 1,500 universities.
CollegeDekho, a company founded in 2015, uses its technology and chatbot to match students with institutions. Among other things, it provides services like profile creation, exam preparation, application support, university choice, and visa support.
In order to institutionalize student counselling in India, Girnarsoft Education Services Private Limited (GESPL) created CollegeDekho.com. With regional offices in Delhi, Punjab, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Calcutta, Pune, etc., it has its main office in Gurgaon, Haryana. One of India’s fastest-growing education service companies, CollegeDekho.com, links students to institutions and universities worldwide. The company’s primary goal is to make it easier for schools and institutions to attract students for all programs and degrees. CollegeDekho.com has 35K+ institutions listed on its website and over 800 partner colleges as clients. It provides the most recent information on enrollment, entrance exams, infrastructure, courses, and professions.
The CollegeDekho portal provides a one-stop shop for all difficulties and challenges about higher education, including Hostel Accommodation, Education Loans, Insurance, and Application Assistance. The CollegeDekho Study Abroad division provides its students with top-notch services by giving them all the help they need to enroll at any university abroad.
PrepBytes, Getmyuni, & IELTSMaterial were three firms that the business also purchased shortly after the last round of funding.
GetMyUni’s purchase was covered exclusively by Marketmoney in February of this year. Although CollegeDekho has not yet submitted its annual financial reports for FY22, its operating income increased 27.6% to Rs 48 crores in FY21. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2021, its losses increased by 22.3% to Rs 21.12 crore. Leverage Edu, a rival startup, raised $22 million (about Rs. 167 crores) in its Series B investment at a $120 million valuation.
The business claims that its revenues, which were close to 100 crore rupees in FY22, are on course to treble in the upcoming fiscal year while also being EBITDA positive. Additionally, CollegeDekho has made a number of acquisitions. For example, in March 2022, it paid an unknown price to purchase the coding platform PrepBytes.
In February 2022, it also purchased Getmyuni & IELTSMaterial for more than Rs 50 crore in a transaction. This wave of money has arrived at the worst possible time for tech. The edtech industry is presently experiencing a severe crisis as a result of massive layoffs this year by tech titans, including Byjus, Unacademy, and Vedantu.
However, several businesses have been successful in securing sizeable capital during this edtech winter, like UpGrad ($210 million raised in August 2022) and Solo ($22.5 million raised in December 2022).
“The EdTech startup landscape in India has been changing, but this new round of funding from our current investors is a tribute to the outstanding development the CollegeDekho team has achieved. We intend to quadruple our income in the upcoming fiscal year since we have established a strong foundation and have the support of an outstanding staff and our investors. Building an internationally trusted education ecosystem was one of CollegeDekho’s initial goals, and we are now more confident than ever that we are well enough on our way to achieving that goal, “the CEO and co-founder of CollegeDekho, Ruchir Arora, stated.
In November 2021, CollegeDekho completed a Series B fundraising round and secured $35 million. Winter Capital, ETS Tactical Capital, College, Man Investment, Disrupt ADQ, and QIC were the investors who took the lead in the fundraising round. CollegeDekho has already raised approximately $45 million in fundraising before this new round of finance.
Through its unique Common Application Form platform, CollegeDekho has helped 50,000 students enroll in more than 1500 colleges. It is India’s largest higher education research and discoverability ecosystem, with more than 16 crore visits.
The business has now raised a total of $89 million through this fundraising round. $2 million is raised by Bajo Foods. For its two new product lines in India, DiabeSmart and Protein Chef, Bajo Foods reported raising $2 mn (roughly Rs 16.58 crore) in a fundraising round.
According to a statement from the firm, Mount Judi Investments is the leading anchor in this financing round, and this is its first commitment in the FMCG industry. Investors that took part in the investment round included S Ramadorai (previous VC at TCS) and KP Balaraj (founder of KPB Trust and prior co-founder of Sequoia Capital India & WestBridge Capital). Bajo Foods intends to use the funds raised to grow its channels into offline retail, B2B, and hospitals and establish its brand for its new product lines.
Creator of an online university search tool designed to encourage communication between students and institutions. The company’s platform provides information about colleges, coursework, career choices, entrance exam specifics, admission notifications, modifications in standardized test patterns, scholarships, and all other related topics, allowing students to stay up to date on every admission-related development and make a career decision based on on-demand personalized counseling.
Although CollegeDekho has not yet submitted its annual financial reports for FY22, its operating income increased 27.6% to Rs 48 crores in FY21. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2021, its losses increased by 22.3% at Rs 21.12 crore. Leverage Edu, a rival startup, raised $22 million (about Rs. 167 crores) in its Series B investment at a $120 million valuation.
The business claims that its revenues, which were close to 100 crore rupees in FY22, are on course to treble in the upcoming fiscal year while also being EBITDA positive. CollegeDekho concluded its Series B financing at $35 million in December. Winter Capital, College, Man Capital, and ETS Strategic Capital, the private equity division of ETS (the company that developed the TOEFL and GRE examinations), led the round. According to Tracxn, the edtech company had raised an aggregate of $47 million before this round. According to the corporation, the Series B funds would also be utilized for mergers and acquisitions.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
